Thanks

Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for years.  Probably because it revolves almost entirely around food and maybe because I just love fall.  The colors, the smells, the fact that you can bundle up in cozy coats and cute boots, and in years past it was a relief from the heat of summer.  For years our Thanksgiving was held at the family ranch up in the California hills, in the old house that my Grandpa and his three brothers were raised in.  The place is old school, in that it has a cast iron stove that you cook on and a claw foot tub.  Rustic to say the least, but probably one of the best places on earth in my opinion.  Thanksgiving day would start by driving up the long, windy road up to the ranch, and in my case arriving feeling nice and carsick.  That would ease up and we kids would hike, throw a ball, jump into bales of hay from the barn loft or ride horses.  Lots of wine would be flowing and the food would smell so good.  My grandmother would say the blessing and we'd all try not to laugh.  Not sure what was so funny there but the kid table would have a hard time staying composed.  We'd all ingest huge amounts of food (to include Aunt Boo's world famous "Boo Bombs", pearl onions soaked in butter and cheese) and finish up the meal with a cow pie war.  What?  Yes, the crew would head out on a hike to the pond, and somewhere along the line a dried piece of cow poop was tossed.  From that point on it became a tradition that we'd walk and throw cow crap after dinner.  Absolutely some of the best memories from my childhood.  My grandparents are both gone now and are missed dearly.  I haven't been back for Thanksgiving since the boys were very small, but it's what I think of every year.  This Thanksgiving was especially different.  No parade or football as we don't have TV, and even if we did it wouldn't be on since we don't live in America.  I didn't cook as I still have to unpack half the kitchen stuff.  The kids even had school, although just a half day.  Kate's kindergarten celebrated and it was so much fun working in there with all the international kids, kids who were very skeptical of our strange American food.  The British especially were fun, to think it was their people who started it after fleeing their country.  All in all it was a good day.  The Army airbase had a huge dinner, free of charge and I think nearly every American in Belgium may have cycled through.  It's now a little after noon on Black Friday and I'm getting a huge head start on the deals in the comfort of my own home, in my own chair at that!  It's been a while.

Thankful for...
Health
Family, my own little family.  Brian, Matthew, Sam and Kate are my world.
Our extended family who have been so supportive of this crazy move.  Family who's generosity and fabulous sense of humor keeps things fun.
My parents.  I have a Dad who would do anything for us and has gone way beyond many times, and a Mom who calls and checks up as if I were still a kid.  Love that.
My sisters.  My best friends.
Brian's job security.  Sure, we can't stay in one place but he has a great job.  A career that makes him very happy and rewards us with stability.  Oh, and lets us live in Europe, wow.  Lots to be thankful for there.
All the friends I left in Washington, and Texas at that...but the feeling that Washington is a home we can return to.
Strength.  The strength to move so far away, the strength to deal with so much that has come up in the last few years, the strength to be able to go out and run, the strength to not strangle my children at times, the strength to not realize it's strength that is needed!
Thankful to be happy, to be around people who are happy and to understand that it's the simple things in life that keep us happy.
This list could go on, and on, and on...we truly are so, so blessed.